Cheap Liquor
by FBI Bones
Summary: One night, one moment of drug induced lust and now they have to deal with feelings they would never have acknowledged had it not been for that bottle of cheap liquor. McShep.
1. Afterglow

D_isclaimer: Stargate Atlantis is not mine. :(_

_Summary: One night, one moment of drug induced lust and now they have to deal with feelings they would never have acknowledged had it not been for that bottle of cheap liquor. McShep._

_Author's Notes: I am officially beginning to hate my rather active imagination! Two fiction ideas in less than twenty four hours when I already have, several SG1 fictions, a few Bones ones, Buffy and Angel… and now this on the go. I'm insane to be even contemplating writing any of them._

_I started reading slash fiction a few months after I started reading fanfiction at all (about two/three years) I have never actually had any ideas towards the prospect of writing my _own _slash fiction, I never thought I'd be able to! So here it is, my first slash fiction, random little idea, and as I have never actually written Atlantis before, never mind slash, please, please be nice._

_Rating: PG13_

_Pairing: Mckay/Sheppard._

_Genre: Honestly? I have no clue._

Chapter 1: Afterglow

The first thing that he became aware of was the fact that he was warm, closely followed by the realisation that he was comfortable, far more so than he had been for… a very long time.

As the fuzzy veil of sleep fell away he immediately began wishing for it's return as his head pounded to the beat of it's own marching band, and annoying bright lights danced across his closed eyelids. Deciding immediately against moving any time before whatever the Atlantis version of Christmas was he went to duck further under the quilt. Stilling in a rather uncanny likeness to a deer caught in headlights when he felt an arm tighten briefly around his body and his 'pillow' shift underneath him.

His eyes snapped open instantly and he scents of things as unfamiliar as they were familiar assaulted his nose. As the 'pillow' moved again, he was able to slip from the tight grip he was being held in and gain a halfway decent look at the back of his bedmate's head.

Dark hair, in its _natural _'bedhead' state was sticking up in various directions, in sharp contrast to the white of the pillowcase. One tanned arm curled over the comforter that was pulled up over his body.

Mckay made a noise rather like a squeak and had it been any other situation he would have spent a considerable amount more time being embarrassed by it. At the moment however, far more humiliating factors were at hand, for example; the fact he was completely naked underneath the sheet that had pooled in his lap.

Scrambling backwards he let out a rather undignified yelp when he fell backwards off the bed and landed with a thud on the floor, thankfully taking the sheet with him, he jumped to his feet on reflex, seizing the sheet tightly around his waist. The pain in his head reverberating around his skull so fast all cognitive thought would have been lost had he not already been so speechless.

Sheppard, Colonel John Sheppard, was… he… him… what…

Sheppard groaned and rolled onto his back, his own head hurting so much that simple motion made him nauseous for a second. Stretching, the duvet fell back to his waist as he scrunched up his face at the not-so-nice taste in his mouth that always came with a hangover. Blinking several times so as to get used to the dim lighting in the room he froze and stared at the man stood by his bed. _"Rodney?" _his hazel eyes widened.

He was so confused by his current state of affairs it was taking for more effort than it should to actually move _away _from Sheppard's bed and… and… where exactly did he want to be going? His clothes… where were his clothes? They had to be around there somewhere, the very fact that he was standing there wearing nothing but a sheet, not _his _sheet, a voice in the back of his head informed him, suggested that his clothes would not be far.

But then again he didn't _remember _getting undressed so there was nothing to prevent the fact that his clothes could be in his _own _quarters and that he had – Sheppard was staring at him, why was Sheppard staring at him? Oh. Right.

"What're you doing here?" his usual candid tone of forced patience was perfected even at this not-so-ungodly-hour of the day.

When the other man did not speak Sheppard propped himself up on his elbows, the rush of cold air that hit his chest when he did so told him far more than he actually wanted to recognise right now. He was naked, Mckay was naked, and if the look on the genius' face was anything to go by they were both wearing matching expressions of abject horror. "Oh," he said softly in realisation, before looking up again to find that Mckay had disappeared, well not completely as he could be heard muttering to himself somewhere on the floor at the foot of the bed. "Rodney?" he tried again, careful to ensure he stayed decently covered by hastily pulling on a pair of sweatpants that were on the floor next to him.

Thankfully his clothes had been discarded near enough to the bed that he did not have to move very far in his search. As he pulled on a shirt and began a rather hasty search for his socks he began to furiously back-pedal that train of thought. Thankful? That wasn't a good word to use was it? Thankful that his clothes were nearby, yes, thankful that they had been removed in someone else's room no. And what exactly did he think they had gotten up to last night. Bad word, bad word, very bad word. God his head was killing him.

"Rodney," Sheppard's voice was insistent, growing ever more impatient, and the _very_ last thing he wanted to hear right now.

So as he got to his feet, finally having succeeded in his impromptu mission to find both his socks and his boots he ignored the Colonel's attempts at… whatever he was trying to attempt. He opened his mouth to say something, what he had no idea, it took a moment for him to form a proper sentence and even then it was a simple "I… have to go," that sounded rather too dazed for his liking.

The door shut behind him and Sheppard was left standing there, resisting the overwhelming urge to let his jaw drop.

* * *

"Rodney!" Elizabeth came around the corner; her tone sounded less than pleased with him "I've been calling you for the past hour, where have you been?"

He gave her an odd look, which she returned with impatience, bringing a hand to his ear he bit back a groan when he realised his radio wasn't there.

"Are you alright?" she asked sincerely, reaching out to touch his arm, for reasons unfathomed to him he shied away "Rodney?"

"I'm fine Elizabeth," he assured her before steering away from that particular venue and inwardly delighted at the opportunity she had unknowingly presented him with so as he could keep his thoughts strictly work-related. "What did you want?"

She ignored his efforts "are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should go see Carson,"

He thought about shaking his head and immediately regretted it, when the full force of his headache came rushing forwards. His stomach was churning and he had no idea whether or not it was the hangover or his body remembering the previous night before his mind, whatever it was, it was highly unwanted.

Carson couldn't fix this, whatever 'this' was, it was just… "I think I will,"

* * *

"I think you jus' drank a wee bit too much last night Rodney," Beckett said with a teasing smile on his face as he removed the strap from round his friend's upper arm as he finished checking his blood pressure "nothin' a nice sleep and some decent food won't cure,"

Mckay gave him a tight smile and nodded curtly, sat on the infirmary bed he was forced to either look up at Carson or look away, he chose the latter for the time being.

"Is everythin' okay?" he voiced his concern.

"Yeah, yeah everything's fine," he answered rather to quickly for Carson's liking and he was forced to give him a reassuring look in order for the steely gaze to be lifted.

"Why don' t you go and get yourself somethin' to eat? Colonel Sheppard just passed by an' I think he's lookin' for you," with that the CMO went back to his office, satisfied that his patient was as well as could be expected having consumed what looked to be rather a copious amount of alcohol the previous night.

Hangover, he'd known that already, the headache pills he had been given should kick in reasonably soon which gave no obvious reason as to why he couldn't just go straight to his office. There was food in there, always was, it was easier to eat in there than have to go all the way down the mess hall when he was half way through a project.

Refusing to even contemplate any further down the track that ended with a hangover he tactically avoided the mess hall and went straight to his office.

* * *

Sheppard frowned, Beckett's pain pills would work wonders soon enough and just as soon as his head was clear enough to actually co-ordinate a proper search which didn't have 'desperate need to stick head down the toilet' every ten steps then all would be fine. Then he could try and first find Rodney, then figure out what in the hell had happened.

The only problems in the formulation of such a plan were that a) were those to items on his agenda the wrong way around? And b) wasn't it already _blatantly obvious _what had happened?

It was a plausible idea that they had both gotten drunk, and simply gone to sleep together through no fault of their own just an innocent accident. However the severe lack of clothing upon waking and the dull ache of the rest of his body that was neither irritating nor uncomfortable just an ugly reminder of how _little _sleep he had gotten since the expedition had started. Said that they had taken the teenage euphemism 'sleeping together' to its more literal term.

There had been no reason for them getting so drunk last night; it had just seemed like a good idea at the time. He had a vague recollection of seeing Rodney outside, overlooking the city, he'd seemed depressed and so the offer of a drink had been a friendly gesture, which had been accepted with little fuss and no sound and logical argument.

The mess hall was fairly quiet but a low buzz of chatter still prevented any complete string of conversation to actually permeate anyone but it's intended audience's ears. Snagging a bottle of water and for a second contemplating a piece of fruit but as his gaze landed on the oranges, a dozen thoughts at once started to swirl around his head. He thought better of it, and headed over to where Ronon had raised a lazy hand in beckoning.

"John," Teyla smiled warmly as he slid into place next to Ronon at the table "how are you this morning?"

"Good," he smiled back at the mild natured Athosian and opened the water absently "have either of you see Mckay?"

Ronon bit into his apple "he was in the infirmary last I saw," he said casually, staring at the piece of fruit in his hand with feigned interest, his normal tone of bored indifference shining through. He shrugged as if something he had been contemplating now proved to be of little importance and took another bite.

Sheppard nodded thoughtfully, okay, so what now? He certainly felt a little contemptuous for the scientist's abrupt departure but then again he'd been just as freaked, until things started coming back into focus as the cobwebs of sleep fell from his brain. Sipping at the water slowly he noticed his headache was slowly disappearing and with every second that past the memory came back clearer. He'd had sex with Rodney Mckay.

He wasn't sure how he felt about the fact he didn't shudder at that point. At first glance Mckay was abrasive, rude and inconsiderate but as you got to know him he was nicer than that, he _did _care, maybe even too much, and his defences were way to high to be anywhere in the vicinity of comfortable.

He'd done the guy thing of checking out the competition, perfectly normal behaviour, assessing potential threats and allies, was what he had been trained to do, albeit not in the sense he was thinking about. He would even go as far as to say that they were some attractive men on base, same as their were women, but he had never felt the desperate need to clamp down on an urge to jump any of them.

When he noticed Ronon was staring at him with his eyebrow quirked he smiled his usual little smile and got to his feet "I'll see you guys later," he excused himself from the hall and decided that his urgent search for Mckay could wait, he had some thinking to do.

* * *

Mckay groaned under his breath, rubbing furiously at his temples, the painkillers were proving to be of little use to him and the equations on screen had been easy yesterday, but then again his mind hadn't been wandering every two seconds.

Reaching for the coffee mug to his right his mood worsened somewhat as he discovered it was empty. But then of _course _it would be empty because he hadn't even turned on the coffee maker in the corner this morning, never mind actually poured himself a mug. Caffeine was not a good thing to add to a headache but dammit it couldn't get much worse.

Running a hand across his face he took a breath and looked back at the screen, fingers poised over the keys as he slowly tapped in the resulting calculations with far more concentration required than he wanted to admit.

Still the images continued to float into his head, much as he wanted to ignore them they were vibrant and even though no noise could technically be heard he could still remember the fervent breathing that had filled his ears, the feel of hands on his skin... he shivered, now was so _not _the time to be watching porno movies in his head, especially when they included himself and John Sheppard, a _man_. Colonel Carter yes, that woman was… well… she just was.

There was no real words he could think of to describe her. Imagining having sex with her was acceptable. No! Imagining sex of _any _kind in his office was _wrong_. In the privacy of his shower yes, even his bedroom but _not _in his office.

* * *

The sheer beauty of the city never ceased to amaze him, it seemed to have a constant ethereal glow that reflected off the ocean that surrounded it. Even the vast expanses of water were some how 'magical' compared to that of Earth.

He tapped the bottle of water absently against the railing as his eyes skimmed across the landscape in front of him.

Sex.

Rodney.

Sex with Rodney.

Either it didn't bother him as much now as it had before or it hadn't actually hit him yet. He had never had sex with another guy so there was no way to actually be sure when and if the disgust would kick in. It wasn't that he was opposed to the idea of two people of the same sex sleeping together it was simply he had never seen any man he was drawn to like that. The idea of sex with Mckay did not repulse him, Rodney was a good-looking guy, his personality left much to be desired, but physically he was… nice.

He smirked. Nice. A hell of a word to use there Shep. He took a swig of water, the breeze lifting off the ocean easing the remnants of his headache effortlessly.

He wasn't fine with it, in fact he was pretty sure he was a spooked as Rodney was about the whole thing, but it seemed they each had different ways of dealing with things like that. Drunken sex was definitely not unheard of, it happened all the time, just not usually to him, at least not in this way.

Although sex whilst drunk usually had thoughts of guilt and regret tagged along with the inescapable hangover, at the moment, he could conjure up none and was a little disorientated to find that out. Okay, he thought, think Mckay. Dark hair, broad shoulders, muscular arms and chest… pale faced expression of horror and shock on his face in the dim light of Sheppard's bedroom… what the hell had they done?

_Author's Notes: A little weird I know but I have no clue how that turned out, states of mind etc, were probably way off and – you know what? I ain't sit here and type all the problems I see with this. Review if you liked it, DON'T if you don't and defintely NO flames. I haven't a clue how long this is gonna be yet but it all depends on which path I choose to take from this point forwards. Please remember I have never written slash before so just be nice, please?_

* * *


	2. Recollection

_Author's Notes: And as luck would have it, I should be doing anything __but__ writing fanfiction… ah well… sincere apologies for the lack of updates; the first half of this chapter was written eighteen months or so before the second half of the chapter :P._

Chapter 2: Recollection

_"What is this?" his voice was slurred even to his own ears. His brain fogged to the point he found himself mentally checking to see if there was the any residual stinging on any part of his body that would indicate having been given a shot of something that would make him sound so… drugged._

_Sheppard looked at the now empty bottle on the side table, squinting and scrunching up his nose in an exaggerated concentration "I have no idea," he grinned boyishly at his companion before finishing his glass with a flourish._

_Rodney looked at his finished glass disdainfully "it's gone," he stated softly._

_"Yep," John was still smiling at him, not passed him, or in a drunken stupor, directly at him, he smiled back without even thinking about it._

_"Sooo…" he trailed off, relaxing even further into the bed "what now-" lips were on his and even as the initial shock wore off he found himself relaxing even further, whether into John who was apparently now in front of him or the bed he wasn't certain, the alcohol along with the sudden display of affection completely disorientating him._

_The kiss was firm and yet still tantalisingly gentle, giving just enough for him to want ten times more. Just as he was about to try and intensify the kiss John pulled back, he whimpered pathetically, leaning forwards to try and continue but was pushed back into the pillows "what?" he demanded impatiently, staring straight at him. Infuriated when he did not get a response other than that annoying smile to come back into place he snapped again "what?" His annoyance was extinguished as in one swift, and incredibly dizzying move he was flat on his back, a somehow heavy, yet incredibly comfortable weight on top of him as another kiss was initiated._

_As it deepened he wrapped his arms around the form looming over him; pulling him down so the figure landed hard against his chest…_

"Rodney!" Zelenka cried out again, even louder this time and with somewhat less patience than the first three or four times he had called.

Mckay jumped and glared at the other scientist who wisely backed away and once at a safe distance inquired "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," sleep, he'd fallen asleep in his lab and dreamt about – not going there! He was a brilliant scientist not some… some… "Radek?" he said curtly when the Czech gave him a rather odd look.

Radek shook his head, deciding it was probably best he didn't press the matter he went back to his workstation.

At least he hadn't been the one to initiate the… uh… it. 'It' was a good word, he hadn't started 'it', that much he could assure himself, but then again he hadn't stopped 'it' in fact he had been rather too eager to continue but resistance had seemed so futile… Bad thoughts, wrong thoughts, he told himself, no more naked John-Sheppard, Sheppard not John, no more thoughts along… that avenue.

He rubbed his eyes, frustrated, the headache refused to go away and his irritability was increasing with every second that passed.

* * *

The shock had hit, okay, that was expected, but he had no need to panic did he? Okay it was kind of – no he couldn't even say it was disturbing really could he? Wrong? Yes, he could say it was wrong, but not in the way he wished he could. Wrong of both of them to take advantage of each other's inebriated states but was it advantage taking if both had been as equally drunk? But the actual act itself wasn't wrong; unprecedented yes, wrong, no.

They couldn't exactly rewind the clock, so the only thing left to do was to figure out what to do next. Panicking just wasn't going to happen, and avoidance… well that just made it seem even more like a high-school drama scene. Confrontation was probably the best course of action but considering that he wasn't exactly all 'gung-ho' about the idea and it was almost definite that Rodney would want to completely ignore him that wasn't going to be easy.

Taking a breath he pushed away from the railing, at least even way out here, almost entirely severed off from Earth except when it became absolutely necessary to dial back in, some things still remained somewhere within the vicinity of 'normal', he thought wryly.

Not that he made a habit out of sleeping with people whilst he or his partner were drunk but it was oddly reassuring that not everything out here was entirely alien, even if it was ever-so-slightly concerning that he wasn't completely horrified by the idea.

On first impression Mckay was a great number of things, although it would never have occurred to him to assess the man as sexually attractive, to him at least, good looking of course but he wouldn't have said in any way that might insinuate he wanted to have sex with him. Every one was attractive in their own way, with the possible exception of the wraith, because to think that they were attractive you would either have to be blind or a wraith yourself. John found himself smirking at the memory of Rodney's reaction to having thought that the wraith's identity aboard the Aurora was 'hot' once he had been told what she really was.

Sheppard shook his head, trying to clear the residual cobwebs that dusted his mind, whilst the painkillers, water and fresh air had done him the world of good, his body wasn't quite yet ready to relent on the fact that he had gotten extremely drunk last night and was apparently determined to hold a grudge. The soft haze of the hangover which blurred over everything had provided an ideological way to observe his current situation but the scenarios in his head weren't working and he was pretty sure it had something to do with his alcohol consumption the night before.

Getting drunk on Atlantis was not something you generally did; it was too much of a risk, sure a celebratory party on the mainland every once in a while had the majority of the expedition members sipping at the Athosian moonshine, pretending with a ridiculous sort of innocence that they had no knowledge of how potent the stuff was, no matter if they had been caught on the bad end of the beverage before. Sheppard himself, like many more of the higher ranking members of the base, preferred to stay sober for the fact that someone had too make sure that nothing got out of hand, and everyone got home safe; after all it wouldn't do to be abruptly plunged into the middle of crisis with a whiskey-addled brain now would it?

Nevertheless, it was inarguable that he had gotten drunk last night, which would have been okay, except for the overwhelming fact that something had happened that probably shouldn't have… where had that 'probably' come from? Definitely. You don't sleep with your team members, and to the best of his knowledge, neither Mckay nor he were gay. What the hell had they been drinking?

He wasn't really the 'let's talk about it' type. He was soldier, and whilst he wasn't quite as trigger happy as some of the bizarrely anti-military types here assumed, he could not deny that the cool bite of a P-90 in his palms was somewhat reassuring. He preferred action rather than talking, after all, any man can talk a good fight but chances are you put him into a situation like that, he'd run, screaming in the other direction. Which meant, rather than standing out here on the balcony, contemplating life in a rather morose sort of way, he should do something to resolve the situation.

* * *

"I am going to lunch," Zelenka announced, the lab was empty save for himself and Mckay who had sent all the other scientists scampering away earlier with the scalding remark that they were all useless morons who must have bought their doctorates of ebay.

Mckay didn't even bother to make a noise of acknowledgement and the Czech rolled his eyes and pushed himself away from his desk;

"Would you like me to bring you something?"

Still nothing and the other scientist would have, once upon a time, been hurt by his colleague's ignorance, but if there was one thing that working with Rodney Mckay taught you, it was that you shouldn't take everything to heart. Muttering to himself under his breath, Zelenka left the lab.

Mckay was vaguely aware of the other scientist talking to him but he was paying little attention as he concentrated on the device in front of him, Major Lorne's team had brought back last week and its purpose was yet to be identified because surely, the little palm-sized device had to be more than a light bulb but as of yet, he was unable to come up with much

"What's that?" Sheppard wasn't sure how long he had been leaning in the doorway, it must have been several minutes since Zelenka had left, his mind filled with a eerie silence as he tried – and failed – to come up with something to say, but when a soft melodic humming started up he had to speak up.

Mckay looked up but managed to avoid looking him in the eye, going suddenly very pale then flushing a little, he ducked his head as if he thought that he could hide his discomfort that way "if I knew that Colonel, I wouldn't be poking it,"

Sheppard grinned, the sarcasm a welcome reminder of reality, maybe this was normal, and he'd been over-reacting to a vivid, disturbing, fantasy that had never happened. That would actually be good, in fact that made sense, a lot more sense than getting wrecked and sleeping with his best friend, his male best friend. Yeah, that was right, he was okay with that.

"What did you touch?" Mckay exclaimed, his ton accusatory as he cocked his head to one side as he listened to the sound echoing off the walls, it was barely perceptible but in the quiet lab it was just loud enough to be detected.

Was it sick that he was reading innuendo into everything the other man said? Somehow the knowledge that the answer was probably a resounding yes did nothing to dissipate the mental grin. For a moment, he was sorely tempted to take it as a way to get onto the topic they really should discuss, a flippant remark or sarcastic comment that would rival even Mckay's endless amount of scathing wit… but then maybe they shouldn't discuss anything, if it had been some sort of weird fantasy, the last person he should share it with is the man who played such a fundamental role; "I didn't do anything," he held his hands up in mock surrender and he saw something obscure flicker across his team mates face before it was tucked safely back the façade of obstinacy and wildly thrown accusation.

"That noise has to be coming from somewhere," the astrophysicist snapped.

Sheppard paused for a moment and listened, the music was strange, haunting but in a way soothing, a single instrument playing to silence; "could be that glowy thing," he pointed at the device on the desk.

Mckay looked at the device he had been working on before he had been interrupted, it was glowing a little brighter than before, and when he touched it reverently it seemed to be buzzing a little, quivering with the serene melody that it seemed to be emitting for reasons that only served to confound the scientist even further; "a singing light bulb," he deadpanned as the tune grew a little louder "how useful,"

Sheppard chuckled but stopped abruptly, straightening his face when he caught Mckay staring at him oddly, his eyebrows quirked up and his lips pressed together as if he was thinking hard; the scrutiny made him uncomfortable and he shifted from foot to foot. The device hummed to a steady halt the moment Sheppard found himself wanting it to shut up but he gave no heed to the familiar feeling of 'that is so cool!' that flickered to life every time he was able to turn something on or off with a single thought. For now, the silence roaring between the two of them was as loud and deafening as any fire-fight. All of a sudden it didn't feel like the snippets of remembrance were anything but real because they were and there was an unwelcome sensation that he was able to identify as panic ebbing up through the cracks that still scoured his memory.

"We should talk," he found himself saying and his voice sounded way to croaky for it to be normal, in fact, he wasn't even sure his voice should be able to pitch at that level.

"There's no need," Mckay bristled and the room suddenly "nothing happened,"

Sheppard went to reply, to tell him… to tell him what? What would be the point? If that's the way Mckay wanted to play it, then fine, maybe it would be easier to pretend… no not pretend, they weren't pretending as such, merely refusing to acknowledge something had happened. There was no need to discuss anything because where would it get them? Ultimately no where. This way it meant that they could avoid the awkward exchanges and uncomfortable words that they would have had to trade otherwise; "yeah," he agreed softly "nothing happened,"

_Author's Notes: Apologies again for the lack of updates. Review if you liked, don't if you didn't :P_


	3. Feigning Ignorance

_Author's Notes: I do not speak Czech… all words in this language are translated from English using an online translator. P_

_Ella – wraithbait huh? I'll admit I've never contemplated posting on there before (never mind getting an account!)… I'll have to think about it once I've completed it 'coz I don't think it's fair to post it somewhere else when it's barely half-written :D Thanks for the review!!_

Chapter 3: Feigning Ignorance

The silence had rapidly grown uncomfortable, almost rising to nigh on hostile levels that for some reason surprised neither of them. A multitude of thoughts flitting around the room as each man tried to out stare the other, even though the act was determinately futile and even more to the point, rather more difficult when Mckay was determined not to make eye contact with Sheppard; if anything the gesture made it all the more unfriendly.

The second he had become aware of the lieutenant Colonel's company, Mckay had felt his hackles raise, the barriers that usually weakened somewhat when in the company of his team locking into place with the precision learnt by a schoolboy whose parents had not been the most supportive, and whose classmates had been less than objective in regards to weighing the value of smarts versus brawn. It was not a conscious thought but at the same time, he was unwilling to fight the walls back, even when they were in response to the presence of the closest thing he had ever had to a best friend, which by the way, had just been put under serious strain by something that – no. _Nothing_ happened, remember, there was _nothing_ to strain.

"I'll uh… see you later then," Sheppard said a moment later, and his voice sounded odd though Mckay pretended not to notice.

The scientist simply grunted in response, hunching over his desk and poking at the device that sat there placidly, the music had stopped several minutes ago, not that he could pinpoint the exact moment, but it was still glowing, albeit the light beginning to diminish somewhat, before disappearing completely as Sheppard exited the room, his heavy footfalls echoing down the corridor.

* * *

Teyla pivoted on one foot, her movements as precise and perfect as always, the fabric of her skirt swirled around her like a cloak as she came to a halt and slammed both bantos sticks down onto his own then in a lightening fast reflex she rapped him harshly across the back of his legs, sending him sprawling to the floor on his knees, heaving great pants of breath.

"Are you okay John?" the concern that laced her voice made him look up, jerking out of his blank reverie to regard her through bleary eyes.

"Yeah I'm fine," he flashed her a winning smile that everyone but Teyla accepts as a marker for just how 'fine' he is, somehow the slight Athosian woman manages to see straight through it every time.

"Are you sure?" she touched his elbow as he got to his feet, and brushed the back of his wrist across his forehead as sweat threatened to run into his eyes, "you appear…distracted,"

Faltering only slightly because a part of him felt guilty for reasons he wasn't willing to fathom he smirks willfully at her "I'm okay Teyla," he assured her, "ready to go again,"

Apparently she was placated enough to step back, assuming her sparring stance once and giving him a split second to lunge into a clumsy attack she deflected with ease; he hit the mats again only this time he scrambled for his feet, a sharp crack between his shoulder blades had him tumbling sideways, landing on his back and hissing a little as the just-hit injury site made contact with the floor. His Adams apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed convulsively as the tip of the bantos rod in her hand tickled the vulnerable flesh there.

She smiled at him, moving the weapon aside and offering him her hand, hauling him back to his feet with an effortless grace "I think that is it for today Colonel," she took the sticks from his hands and propped them against the wall, alongside her own.

He nodded, there was no point arguing, his body was aching in a new sort of way, a sharp burning in all his muscles that felt good, refreshing even, as he seized a towel from the bench against the wall and scrubbed it over his face before slinging it around his neck.

"Did you find Rodney?" she sipped a bottle of water she had brought with her, throwing one effortlessly in Sheppard's direction without bothering to ask if he wanted a drink; he caught it reflexively, twisting off the cap and swallowing half of it in seconds.

"Yeah," he replied casually, after all there was no need for him to be anything else, they had come to an agreement of sorts in Mckay's deserted lab, nothing had happened, and even so, it was certainly not something he was going to share with anybody, even Teyla.

She cocked her head to one side and he felt his heart rate pick up the way it always did when either she or Elizabeth looked at him in that manner; it felt as if they could see right through him, a thought that was not in the slightest bit reassuring.

"And you John?"

It was like she _knew_. Knew what he wasn't sure because there was nothing to _know_ because _nothing happened_ did it? Why did that question sound like it was going unanswered even when he knew the response it should elicit; a resounding _no_. Mckay had made it clear he did not believe anything had happened - though his instant response and the discomfort the topic had caused made it blatantly clear that _something_ had – and Sheppard for sure, did not want to think about it anymore; there were more important things to consider than nightmarish-fantasies that threatened more things than he cared to reflect on.

"What's this about Teyla?" he was going for apathy but is pretty sure he missed that by a long shot.

Teyla gave him an odd look "am I not allowed to inquire as to your health?" she asked innocently, and for a moment fear flickered across her face like she thought she had crossed an invisible line.

He backpedalled "no… I mean yeah of course you are… sorry I'm a bit out of it," he gave her another lopsided grin, trying to deflect her discomfort and his own in one, not so subtle move.

"Perhaps you should visit the infirmary,"

He shakes his head, which twinges a little in response "nah… just a hangover. I'll be fine,"

She didn't look like she entirely believed him but he avoided looking in her eye as best he could "very well," she acquiesced as he exited the room a moment later.

* * *

"It is a child's toy yes?" Zelenka leaned over Mckay's shoulder like a particularly annoying parrot as the head scientist prodded the device once more with a pen.

"We don't know that," Mckay snapped, though it was likely that the Czech was correct, there was no other use for the so delightfully called 'singing light bulb' as it did not do very much else.

"We should call Colonel Sheppard," Zelenka said after a moment of silence.

"No!" and he felt himself start flushing at the abruptness of his reply but there was no way he was calling Sheppard back down to the labs despite in the fact that the device appeared to be entirely unresponsive to any of the artificial genes Mckay himself, or varying members of his science team carried; the other option was Beckett but that would raise too many questions given that Sheppard was the one who normally got to play switch-boy for the labs.

"You are very grumpy today Rodney," Zelenka harrumphed before going back to his own workstation "you do not usually object to the Colonel's company,"

"We don't need Sheppard down here thinking at things," he replied curtly, feeling rather foolish as he, himself, started to think _on_ at the device in earnest; it remained completely unchanged.

"Tebe ar jeden povýšený man," the wispy-haired scientist muttered to himself as he hunched over his computer keyboard, ignoring Mckay as the other scientist refused to even acknowledge he had spoken.

* * *

Coming out of the shower and scrubbing his hair absently with the towel around his shoulders, Sheppard heard a voice coming from his radio beside his bed, he flinched a little when he saw that there were in fact, two radios residing there. Deciding to ignore the matter he put the earpiece in a tapped into the channel.

"John?" Elizabeth's voice rang through, slightly panicked, as if she had been calling for a while.

"Sorry, in the shower," he smirked even though she couldn't see him "everything okay?" he asked, rubbing the towel down his face to wipe the water droplets away.

"I've scheduled a briefing for your team at 1300," she spoke calmly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing serious," her tone was light, as if she knew by saying that she was risking, as the superstitious would say, jinxing whatever was going on, "but it'll be easier if I explain it to you all at once,"

"I'll be there," he assured her "need me to contact the others?"

"I've got it thank you Colonel,"

Sheppard knew she was smiling a little and there was a moment's silence before he closed the channel and went about getting re-dressed.

He found his mind wandering to try and determine what could possible cause a briefing to be called so late but it was not unusual, it had happened before and they would be there, as Elizabeth had requested. As he pulled on his shirt he caught sight, once more, of Mckay's earpiece on the nightstand. The simple object had him glancing at the bed, and his mind began racing again, trying to push all thoughts down _that_ avenue from his mind he flipped open his laptop to check his email in an effort to try and ease his distraction efforts. Nonetheless, as he took his seat, his gaze wandered momentarily back to the bed and he could not stop a small knot of apprehension forming in his stomach.

This served only to make him feel strangely angry and he scrubbed his hands through his hair again, more viciously than necessary before slamming the computer closed, picking up the discarded towel and throwing it somewhere in the vague direction of the laundry basket as he left the room, the door swishing shut behind him.

* * *

The mess hall was a hive of activity, chatter echoing of the walls of the Ancient city as the kitchen staff served food that barely looked edible but most choked down anyway. Making his way over to the sort-of queue Sheppard had every intention of asking Teyla and Ronon if they were going to be at the briefing but the second he caught sight of Mckay sitting with them at their usual table he found he wasn't all that hungry anyway, snatched up a banana and left the commissary.

This wasn't going to work. Avoidance, embarrassment and anger weren't going to get him anywhere; it was all so ridiculous. They were grown men, adults who had made a mistake but they had to deal with that, particularly when they were in a completely alien galaxy with limited contact with Earth, and whilst the Daedalus made frequent trips between the two galaxies, ferrying people and supplies back and forth, it was beginning to feel more and more like Pegasus was home and everything else was just on the peripheral.

He had no desire to talk about _it_, at least not any more. Wavering momentarily in the aftermath of a hangover it had seemed like a good idea but now… he was just angry, furious in some ways and he could not think why. There was no reason to be angry, at least not in such a way that did not make a great deal of sense, he wasn't angry at himself and more than anything, that's what he expected, no the fury was more deep seated, curling in his belly and wrapping tight fingers around his chest but there was no where to direct it; an almighty pressure rising behind a damn with nothing to stop it.

Elizabeth was sat in her usual seat in the briefing room when he got there, glancing intermittently between her laptop and her PDA, occasionally typing something into one of them and she jumped a little when he cleared his throat to announce his presence.

"John," she smiled pleasantly at him, closing her laptop and pushing it to one side as she folded her hands on the table in front of her.

"Elizabeth," he found his lips quirking upwards and his mood shifting slightly; compartmentalizing, he was good at that… sometimes.

"You're early,"

He glanced at his watch, a little surprised to see that he was, especially given the fact he usual made a point of coming to briefings, whether last minute or not, bang on time, and certainly not… twenty minutes early. Though Elizabeth's presence begged the question as to how early she got there, "guess I am," he looked up at her, smirking in his usual manner and she nodded curtly, glancing at her PDA as it lit up with a new message she then pulled it towards her and proceeded to read it.

"John," Teyla greeted pleasantly as she walked gracefully over to take her seat "you appeared to be hurried at lunch, I trust everything is well?" she fixed him with a piercing, but concerned gaze, her brown eyes boring into him until he squirmed and glanced at Mckay as the scientist took his normal seat as if he had not noticed Sheppard at all.

"Yeah," he breathed, an inexplicable anger sparking in his chest, flushing when he realized he was glowering at the scientist and the pretty Athosian woman was watching him curiously, he cleared his throat "yeah Teyla, everything's fine,"

Teyla did not seem full placated but she took her seat when Elizabeth looked up as Ronon sauntered in, folding his huge frame into his chair and observing the expedition leader with an expectant look.

"Thank you," Elizabeth folded her hands neatly on the desk in front of her, PDA discarded.

"What's going on?" Ronon asked; his face void of all expression and his large form sprawled across his chair, fingers drumming idly on his thigh.

"We received a message in the early hours of the morning from the MX5 GH9-"

"That the planet with the bright orange mead and those weird pink bananas?" Sheppard drawled, smiling a little in remembrance of the mission – turned out the mead wasn't all that strong, _except_ in the company of the bananas and… wow; he shared a look with Ronon who smirked a little – or as much as the former Runner would _smirk_ – at him before refocusing his attention on Elizabeth as she pursed her lips in disapproval.

"Yes Colonel," she replied tersely before continuing "apparently they have had problems with some of their generators and they've requested that your team go and check it out,"

"Why us?" Mckay jumped in "I've got enough work to do here without going out and doing charity work for a bunch of sun-worshippers who wouldn't know the way to their own ass without stopping for directions,"

Sheppard blinked at the harshness of the scientist's comment, sure Mckay was brash and acerbic at the best of times but he wasn't so vehemently against going off-world that he – actually yeah he was; "there can't be that much to do that you can't spare a few hours to help out some friends,"

"I have plenty to do thank you Colonel," he stared directly at his team leader and Sheppard found himself becoming a little more agitated by the fact that though Mckay was looking at him, he wasn't actually making eye contact.

"You go off-world all the time Doctor Mckay," Teyla argued, perplexed "this is no different,"

"There-"

"You're either on the team or not Mckay," Sheppard found himself blurting angrily "you can't just pick and choose which missions to go on,"

"I'm Head of Science and-" he started hotly.

"Rodney," Elizabeth said, every inch the diplomat, but her tone suggesting he was trying her patience, "Zelenka is more than capable of keeping the city standing in your absence,"

Mckay's mouth opened as he went to say something in reply but when he could think of nothing that he knew would change Elizabeth's mind it snapped shut and he gave a jerky inclination of his head to show his reluctant agreement. He could feel Sheppard's eyes burning into him even as he refused to take his steady gaze of Elizabeth. _Well sor-ry Colonel, for actually having important work to do_. It wasn't _his_ fault that Zelenka and the morons that passed for scientists in his department weren't capable of doing their jobs properly. Well maybe Zelenka… but that was hardly the point. He shook himself a little when he realized Elizabeth was speaking again.

"-will you be able to be ready in two hours Colonel?"

Sheppard spared a glance at each of his team members, his gaze lingering a moment longer on Mckay before turning back to the exhibition leader with a swift nod and a trademark smile; "we'll be ready,"

_Literal translations:_

_Tebe ar jeden povýšený man._

_- You are a supercilious man._


End file.
